Straw man
Definition: The Straw man fallacy is commited when a person simply ignores a person's actual position and substitues a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position. This sort of "reasoning" has the following pattern. Pattern 1. Person A has position X. 2. Person B presents position Y (which is distorted version of X) 3. Person B attacks position X. 4. Therefore, X is false/incorrect/flawed. =Example= This ad against Prop. 8, "Gender auditors," commits the fallacy of straw man. =Other examples= This interview clip between Jeremy Paxman and Michael Howard ,commits the fallacy of straw man. Definition: A 1997 interview. The interviewer, Jeremy Paxman asks Michael Howard the question, "Did you threaten to overrule him?" Howard answers with a distorted and misrepresented version of what was being asked in the first place. Pattern: Person A: "Did you threaten to overrule him?" Person B: "I did not overrule him." Person B: Backs up his own position(s) (although still not directly answering the main question) Therefore, Person A's position is false/incorrect/flawed This was a 1997 interview. Michael Howard was a part of the British government. In this case, Paxman (the interviewer) is referring to Derek Lewis, a prisons chief, who Howard fired after numerous prison riots and negative reports by Lewis of the jails in Britain in 1995. The main issue at hand, and the reason for this question being asked, is the fact that there were reports that Howard tried to overrule Lewis, because Lewis would not suspend a prison governor. Paxman asks the question 12 times, with no direct answer from Howard. He comes close to answering it by saying, "I did not overrule him." Unfortunately, it does not answer whether or not he THREATENED to overrule Lewis. Howard then goes on to back up this claim by saying things such as, "I was not entitled to instruct Derek Lewis...", "I have accounted for my decision to dismiss Derek Lewis...", "I discussed this matter with Derek Lewis...with strong language..." This shows a fallacy of strawman because the question/argument was stated: "Did you threaten to overrule him?" and was simply ignored by Michael Howard. He then proceeds to substitute his own distorted and misrepresented version of the original position. By doing this, he tries to make Paxman's question incorrect and/or false, even though there were evidence of reports that showed Howard tried to overrule Derek Lewis. This interview clip of George Bush also commits the fallacy of straw man. Definition The arguer takes the idea of American people questioning a particular policy, and instead of answering questions for American people he focuses on compassion. The arguer questions President Bush about a certain policy and whether he believes that Americans and the rest of the world believe that he is following flawed logic. Bush then avoids actually answering the question by focusing on Americans' compassion and how it is unacceptable to compare their actions to those of religious extremists who killed innocent women and children. This ad for Prop. 8, "Proposition 8 commercial," also commits the fallacy of straw man.